The present invention relates to a portable printer for printing an interface onto an surface to produce an interface surface.
The invention has been developed primarily to produce interface surfaces which allow users to interact with networked information and to obtain interactive printed matter on demand via high-speed networked color printers. Although the invention will largely be described herein with reference to this use, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to use in this field.
Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application:
NPA001US, NPA002US, NPA003US, NPA004US, NPA005US, NPA006US, NPA007US, NPA008US, NPA009US, NPA010US, NPA012US, NPA016US, NPA017US, NPA018US, NPA019US, NPA020US, NPA021US, NPA030US, NPA051US, NPA052US, NPA075US, NPB001US, NPB002US, NPK002US, NPK003US, NPK004US, NPK005US, NPK007US, NPM001US, NPM002US, NPM003US, NPM004US, NPN001US, NPN002US, NPN003US, NPP001US, NPP002US, NPP003US, NPP005US, NPP006US, NPP007US, NPP008US, NPP016US, NPP017US, NPP018US, NPP019US, NPS001US, NPS003US, NPS020US, NPT001US, NPT002US, NPT003US, NPT004US, NPX001US, NPX003US, NPX008US, NPX011US, NPX014US, NPX016US, NPX020US, NPX022US, IJ52US, IJM52US, MJ10US, MJ11US, MJ12US, MJ13US, MJ14US, MJ15US, MJ34US, MJ47US, MJ52US, MJ58US, MJ62US, MJ63US, PAK04US, PAK05US, PAK06US, PAK07US, PAK08US, PEC01US, PEC02US.
The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference. Each application is temporarily identified by its docket number. This will be replaced by the corresponding USSN when available.
Presently, a user of a computer system typically interacts with the system using a monitor for displaying information and a keyboard and/or mouse for inputting information. Whilst such an interface is powerful, it is relatively bulky and non-portable. Information printed on paper can be easier to read and more portable than information displayed on a computer monitor. However, unlike a keyboard or mouse, a pen on paper generally lacks the ability to interact with computer software.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a portable printer for printing a second interface onto a second surface, in response to first indicating data received from a sensing device, the first indicating data being sensed by the sensing device from first coded data, a first interface disposed on a first surface including the first coded data, the printer including:
(a) an input module configured to:
(i) receive, from the sensing device, the first indicating data, the first indicating data being at least partially indicative of response data;
(ii) generate second indicating data based on the first indicating data, the second indicating data being at least partially indicative of the response data;
(iii) send the second indicating data to a computer system; and
(b) a printing module, including a printing mechanism, configured to:
(i) receive the response data from the computer system;
(ii) generate the second interface based at least partially on the response data; and
(iii) print the second interface onto the second surface using the printing mechanism.
Preferably, the second interface includes second coded data, wherein the printing module includes a coded data generator configured to generate the second coded data based on at least part of the response data. More preferably, the response data includes second region identity data indicative of at least one identity, the identity being associated with a region of the second interface, the coded data generator being configured to generate the second coded data based on the second region identity data, the second coded data being indicative of the identity.
In a preferred embodiment, the second interface includes visible information in addition to the second coded data, the visible information being based at least partially on the response data.
Preferably, the second coded data is also indicative of at least one reference point of the region. More preferably, the at least one reference point is determined on the basis of a coded data layout.
Preferably, the printing module is configured to receive the coded data layout from the computer system.
In one embodiment, the printer further includes storage means for storing a plurality of the coded data layouts, the printing module being configured to:
receive, from the computer system, layout selection information indicative of one of the coded data layouts; and
use the layout selection information to select one of the stored coded layouts for use in determining the at least one reference point.
Preferably, the first indicating data includes location data sensed by the sensing device from the first coded data.
In one preferred form, the first indicating data includes first region identity data sensed by the sensing device from the first coded data, the first region identity data being indicative of an identity associated with a region of the first interface, the region being at least partially indicative of the response data.
In another preferred form, the first indicating data includes location data sensed by the sensing device from the first coded data, the location data being indicative of a location within the region, the location within the region being at least partially indicative of the response data.
Preferably, the second coded data includes at least one tag, each tag being indicative of the identity of the region.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a system including:
a printer according to the first aspect; and
a sensing device for sensing the first indicating data and transmitting it to the printer.
Preferably, the sensing device includes a radio transmitter for transmitting the indicating data to the printer, and the printer includes a radio receiver for receiving the indicating data.
In a preferred form, the sensing device includes an optical sensor for sensing the first coded data.
In a third aspect, the present invention provides a system including:
a printer according to the first aspect of the invention;
a first interface surface disposed on a first surface, the first interface surface including first coded data to be sensed by a sensing device, thereby to generate first indicating data for transmission from the sensing device to the printer.
In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides an interface surface produced by a printer according to the first aspect.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description that follows.